February 14, 2010 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Jeremiah 17: 5-8 + Psalm 1 + 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20 + Luke 6: 17, 20-26
As we pick up these verses of Luke’s Gospel today, there are two points to notice.
First, Jesus brings himself on a level with the Twelve.
Then although a large group is there, he speaks just to the twelve.
This message is of utmost importance for his closest followers.
It is important to understand that what we have here is not a code of conduct that produces Christians. This is not a prescription for how we ought to behave or live.
It is a description of what life is like for those who live in the Kingdom of God
which has begun in Jesus Christ.
These are not conditions for inclusion in the realm of God.
They are indications of what life in the Kingdom of God is like even in the present.
We read these verses not to suggest that we have to become poor, hungry, or sad;
but to examine our lives in such a way as to discover whether or not we fit in with the Kingdom.
These are not scare tactics to stimulate a change of behavior.
What we receive through Luke’s Gospel is a proclamation by Jesus
about the way life is inside and outside the Kingdom.
There is no proposal here about how to be happy.
This is not about the future either.
Remember the first word Jesus spoke publically in the Synagoge?
TODAY!
Rather than the word: “Blessed” we might get the point better if the text read: “Congratulations!” Jesus is not suggesting that those at the bottom of the economic system are holy.
He is saying that those who are powerless and trust in God are successful
while those who live with the illusion that they are self-sufficient are failures.
Jesus does not propose that an empty belly makes for sanctity.
He is suggesting that knowing that we do not live by bread alone is really wise;
that experiencing restlessness and spiritual emptiness or hunger is a good thing.
Jesus does not promote tears and sadness. The truly holy are not glum miserable sour human beings. He is suggesting that laughing at people, making fun of others, finding humor in racial slurs and jokes for example is a sure sign that one is outside the Kingdom of God.
Experiences of want: poverty, hunger, suffering create a void in us, and to this void Jesus speaks today. In that void, in that want, hunger, and sadness, we can learn reliance upon God.
Those who experience it look to God to fill up what is lacking,
and they are heirs of the Kingdom of God.
Benedict XVI in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, proposes “that the Beatitudes present a sort of veiled interior biography of Jesus.” He has brought himself to the level of his apostles.
He looks each one in the eye and tells each who he is.
If they wish to be united with him in his ministry, this is what it will be like.
They will be poor. Jesus himself has no place to lay his head. They will be hungry as he is hungry.
They will weep as he weeps over Jerusalem and at the grave of Lazarus.
Their sadness will not be about themselves or their misfortunes.
It will spring from their identification with the oppression or suffering of others.
They will see the suffering of others and weep with compassion.
They will be persecuted as he is persecuted, excluded, insulted, and denounced as evil. What they do and what they say will not be motivated by what others think of them.
If they are mocked, laughed at, ridiculed, or excluded: Congratulations!
This is a road map of discipleship!
Gathered in this place, just days away from Lent,
Luke offers us a chance to examine just how well we fit into the Kingdom of God.
This Gospel comes with an invitation to ask:
What good is it to be poor?
What good is hunger?
What good is sorrow or rejection?
People outside the kingdom of God would avoid these things.
Much more appealing are riches, full bellies, and the approval of others.
Jesus suggests that those who prefer these things have received all they are going to get
for these things are their own rewards.
When the present evolves into eternity, these things are not portable. They will be no more.
Live now the way of the Kingdom and live without worry or concern, anxiety or fear. Do it today and be blessed.
Congratulations, says Jesus.
“This is the way I live.” he says.
“Live like this, and live forever.”